You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You hit the ball…Of course, baseball fans know that this line from Bull Durham is far from true, part of the humor of the movie and a huge part of the fun of the game. This blog is a space to talk about baseball, being a baseball fan, all of those things that make the game fun and the Angels, because they make baseball fun for me.

The Long, Dark Time Without Baseball, Day 53

Fifty-three. Fifty. Three. Fifty-three days without baseball. I mean that’s an accomplishment. Now there are only sixty-*mumble, mumble, grrr* days left until Spring Training games begin. Yikes! It’s kind of like catching a glimpse of the clock during the middle of an especially punishing work out and realizing, Yay! This is almost half over…shortly followed by, Crap! I have more than half of this left to go.

I mean, I’m doing okay right now. Really. It’s not like I’m going stir crazy or anything. It’s the holidays. Christmas and New Year’s are easily my favorite offseason times of the year. And preparing for the holidays provides a never ending array of exciting distractions that completely…well, almost…okay kind of cover up the fact that Hot Stove goings on and random bits of news and rumors are great and all, but they don’t really fill the void so much as tease and remind one what one is missing.

Speaking of hot stoves:

Stay on target. Stay on target. Do not flinch. Five more degrees. It's almost brittle! December 18, 2011

One of the main holiday distractions in my house is candy making. The habit started a few years ago when we were really, really broke and still needed something to give everyone for Christmas. But it turns out that we’re pretty good at it, even to the point of starting to make up our own recipes, and folks who know us out right ask for it every year. Score!

And there’s the added bonus that it is really, really distracting. When you spend every evening for a week, most of the weekend and then some boiling sugar, melting chocolate, wrapping caramels, slicing marshmallows, etc. and packing it all up to look pretty, you completely forget about missing baseball! …well, almost forget…kind of forg…yeah, you don’t actually forget at all. But you do have fun and reach the practical conclusion that if a game were on, you wouldn’t have time to watch it and that that fact would make you even more sad.

We need a bigger bowl! What did you DO, Ray? Can't, there's too many of them! And the like. Who knew marshmallows would provide so much fodder for quotes? December 18, 2011

Okay, I lied earlier. I am stir crazy. I think I may even be starting to crack up just a little bit. The candy making has gotten a little, well… Tell me. Is this the product of a well mind? I think not:

Homemade peeps...er....quacks for a friend serving in Afghanistan who will love them. December 19, 2011

Help me MLBN. You’re my only hope. Air a game. Any game. I don’t care what game! Or marshmallow baseball peeps cannot be far behind!

…Hmmmm…baseball peeps. You know, it’s not like it’s terribly hard to improvise a round cookie cutter. In fact, come to think of it, I have biscuit cutters. And I could paint on the stitches…Yikes!! MLBN, put a game on already!😉

6 Comments

Maybe you should consider posting a disclaimer on your blog that warns readers that they may leave hungry. There’s nothing quite like homemade candy. It looks delicious. I may be short for a stormtrooper, but I can tell you this: I hear MLBN is going to air some Australian League games in the very near future….
–Jeff

This isn’t really a comment on the topic of the blog itself. Although, I am still in denial that Baseball has ended. Anyway, I just wanted to say that this entry in particular is exceptional at puting the reader inside your head and getting them to understand almost exactly what you mean/ feel in the parenthical phrases. Often bloggers try to go on take on those phrases and 50% of the readers actually get what they mean, but this entry is what Wanna-bees, wanna be.

Thank you very much Mateo! As you know from your own writing, it’s difficult to pull the thoughts from your head and spill them onto the page in a way that truly shares them. It’s really nice to know that sometimes I get there.🙂

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